Rocket rolls into semis

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter booked their places in the semi-finals of the World Championship on Wednesday.

Last Updated: 03/05/12 2:07pm

Ronnie O'Sullivan: Through to the semi-finals

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter booked their places in the semi-finals of the Betfred.com World Championship after tough victories over Neil Robertson and Jamie Jones respectively.

O'Sullivan remained on target to become the oldest Crucible champion since Ray Reardon in 1978 as he brushed aside Australian Robertson 13-10.

Carter was soundly tested by brave debutant Jones in the other quarter-final of the night, but Carter held his nerve to prevail 13-11 in the end.

The Rocket will now play Matthews Stevens in the semi-finals while Carter goes up against Scotsman Stephen Maguire for a place in the World Championship final.

After starting the day 5-3 behind, O'Sullivan stormed back to lead 9-5 before the start of the evening session, but when world number three Robertson took the opener of the evening the gap was down to just one frame.

Opening

Robertson gifted him an opening chance from a poor break in the next frame though, and O'Sullivan showed his composure with an immaculate 104, followed by 71 to establish a position of authority at 11-8.

A break of 100 made it 12-9 to O'Sullivan, and although Robertson responded with 77 to get one back O'Sullivan completed the win in the next.

"I'd love to win another one but there's still a long way to go," O'Sullivan said. "Everyone here is still capable of winning this event."

O'Sullivan accepts his form might not last, and said: "If I lose my next match it's no big deal, it's just there's more to life. If it falls apart, it falls apart. What can I do about that?"

2010 Crucible champion Robertson believes O'Sullivan is right in the zone and is the man to beat now.

Focus

"A lot of people thought this was maybe the final," he said. "Ronnie handled it better than me. He seems really focused. He'll definitely take some stopping."

Welsh qualifier Jones' Crucible debut finally came to an end at the hands of Carter, although he put up a superbly brave showing to take it down to the wire at 13-11.

Jones, a 24-year-old from Cimla near Neath, said: "I scored really well but couldn't really get enough chances because my safety was that bad."